A motivated Galway outfit were too sharp for Waterford in Walsh Park yesterday, nudging the home side out of contention for a semi-final berth in the Allianz HL Division 1A by three points. The winning margin might have been more comfortable had Joe Canning converted some of his six wides from play but Galway were well worth their victory on a cold, blustery day in the South East. Galway manager, Anthony Cunningham was, understandably, happy at the final whistle. “It was good to finish it out, we had slipped in a couple of the matches. Waterford have finished all their matches very strongly and it was very tight there in the finish even though there were a couple of points in it. We’re happy.”

His Waterford counterpart wasn’t praising referee Anthony Stapleton for a patchy performance. Asked if he felt the referee had made some howlers, Michael Ryan said: “I agree with you. It’s easy to blame referees but I was surprised by a few of them, that they went against us. But those things happen in games. We’re disappointed not to be going to the semi-finals. But it’s been a good league overall. We’ve finished fourth in the group but we’ve discovered a few things about guys, a few fellas have had their character tested. Overall I’m happy enough.”

In the first-half Waterford had the wind but the fluency and drive of last week’s win over Tipperary was conspicuous by its absence. Jake Dillon (free) and a good Jamie Barron score from the wing opened their account, but from early on it was all Galway. With the home side overpowered in midfield by a driving display from Iarla Tannian, Galway had the ideal launch pad for their attacks and Joe Canning got on plenty of ball from his wing-forward berth. The visitors hit three on the trot from Davy Glennon, Niall Burke and Canning before the game took its first twist, when Glennon won a penalty on 15 minutes.

Canning went for goal, but he must have missed Paul Flynn on Laochra Gael this week – the former Waterford star stressed the importance of the pick-up, and Canning’s lift left him down slightly: Shane O’Sullivan saved the shot and Waterford lifted the siege. They might have had a goal of their own two minutes later, a Kevin Moran delivery coming back off the post, but Maurice Shanahan was hooked as he pulled on the rebound.

Waterford’s scoring drought stretched out for the rest of the half – 22 minutes without raising a flag – while Galway, with David Collins prominent at the back, had scores from Canning (two points, one free), Tannian and Niall Burke to leave the score 0-8 to 0-3 at the break. Waterford improved on the resumption: Maurice Shanahan (free) and Glennon swapped points before Seamus Prendergast had a sight of goal but cracked the ball over the bar. However, though handling remained a bugbear for the home side, whose players dropped balls they’d normally snap up without a thought, they narrowed the deficit to three points by the three-quarter stage thanks to Shanahan’s accuracy, 0-10 to 0-7.

The same man went for goal from a close-in free at this point in the game but Colm Callanan saved well and Waterford had two poor wides shortly after. In contrast, Galway snapped over two points from Glennon and Cyril Donnellan to make it 0-13 to 0-7 with over 10 minutes left. Shanahan kept Galway nervous with two frees, but the westerners had a goal disallowed on 61 minutes when a Canning sideline ended in the net, with referee Anthony Stapleton calling a square-ball. A Canning free stretched Galway’s lead, and when the same man lofted a point from halfway the visitors were five up with six minutes left. Shanahan and Shane O’Sullivan cut it to three points, but the equalising goal never looked likely.

“What you want at this time of year is matches,” said Cunningham. “We have loads to work on after today and we won’t be getting carried away. We had a lot of wides and probably a couple more chances we could have finished and there is always work to do and it gives us a few weeks of work and a focus and what I told the lads there was that there is no abundance of league medals there — but what a great thing to get a crack at Kilkenny again. It’s what we want.”

The Waterford manager felt his side had lost the initiative early on. “In the first-half we never got into the game. We stood off them. They’re All-Ireland finalists last year, and if you give them time and space they’ll punish you. “I’m happy enough with our second-half performance. There were one or two incidents in there, I thought we could have had a penalty, that we had a fair shout for one. But I couldn’t fault our lads’ commitment in the second-half.”

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Kilkenny qualified for the Division 1A Hurling semi-final thanks largely to four second-half points from Richie Hogan in a rip-roaring battle with Cork at Nowlan Park. A late Conor Lehane goal pulled the Rebels within one point of the All-Ireland champions, but man of the match Michael Fennelly pointed late on to seal a third consecutive win for Brian Cody’s side. Luke O’Farrell’s goal in the 46th minute had give Cork the upper hand as Kilkenny’s poor finishing looked likely to cost them, but the Cats hit nine of the last ten points to accelerate to the win and the spot in the last four.

And in a repeat of last year’s All-Ireland final, Kilkenny will meet Anthony Cunningham’s Galway for a spot in the league final, while Cork must beat Clare in the relegation play-off to avoid the drop. In the early stages of the match it seemed as if Cork would run riot as the Rebels opened up a 0-4 to 0-1 lead by the 14th minute, with points from Lehane, Paudie O’Sullivan and Stephen Moylan. Two dead ball strikes from Eoin Larkin brought Kilkenny back into the tie, but another rapid fire blitz from Cork through Lehane, Moylan and Daniel Kearney gave Jimmy Barry-Murphy’s side a 0-7 to 0-3 lead by the 26th minute.

But the Cats went into half-time the stronger of the two sides as two Larkin frees were added to by Lester Ryan and Colin Fennelly to leave it all square at 0-7 to 0-7 at the turnaround. Immediately from the restart Richie Hogan – who also had a first-half penalty saved – got in on the act with a crisp point from play, but Cork hit back with their first point in 12 minutes when Pa Cronin found Paudie O’Sullivan in space. In a game that touched on championship intensity on occasion, Luke O’Farrell looked to have edged the tie in Cork’s favour 11 minutes into the second-half when he hit 1-1 in a minute.

Firstly the nippy attacker struck a crisp shot past Eoin Murphy after some great work from Moylan and seconds later he showed JJ Delaney a clean pair of heels to score an equally fine point on the turn. Those two scores gave Cork a three-point lead, but from then on Cody’s men reacted to the prospect of defeat to put in their best spell of the game. Five points in a row – including one from a penalty from Richie Power – saw Cody’s side hold a two-point lead, and after Horgan halted their change with a free they hit another three unanswered points to take total control. Lehane, who tormented Kilkenny throughout, goaled in the 71st minute, but it was too late for the Rebels who miss out on a spot in the semi-finals and now must do battle with Clare to avoid the drop to Division 1B.

Fine margins, that’s been the story in the top division all through this League. And so it proved again in this final-round game in frozen (albeit sunny) Nowlan Park yesterday. Two points, that’s all that separated the teams at the end of an exhilarating game, two points that Cork could easily have prevented at one end had the defence been just that little bit smarter after Luke O’Farrell had blasted home their first goal on 47 minutes — two points that could easily have been scored at the other end but for some outstanding shot-stopping by new Kilkenny keeper Eoin Murphy. Two points is also all that separates the teams on the final league table and yet, exemplifying just how daft is the current structure, Kilkenny now happily head into a league semi-final in three weeks, against Galway, while Cork face the dreaded relegation final, against equally unlucky Clare.

It all leaves even the demanding Kilkenny manager Brian Cody feeling quite pleased with his side, especially given the number of high-profile players missing at various stages during the league. “We lost our first two games, though not by much. We were decent in those two games, up to a point. When our backs were to the wall in the final three games, and we had to come out and win against three teams that were going very, very well, the response was good and we’ve achieved that. Now we have three weeks to a League semi-final, which we weren’t looking too optimistic about a few weeks ago.” He has every reason to feel satisfied, does Brian. Defender Paul Murphy and ace attackers Henry Shefflin and TJ Reid have yet to come back, Michael Rice will have the next few weeks to get rid of whatever rustiness remains from his long injury break, yet — as Cody noted — Kilkenny were still strong enough to forge those three wins on the trot, against Waterford, Clare and now, Cork.

Yesterday’s win was the most impressive of the lot. Cork came to Nowlan Park with real fire and purpose, were 0-7 to 0-3 ahead after 24 minutes and it should have been more. Corner-forward Patrick Horgan was in on Eoin Murphy within 20 seconds of the start, took the right option, but his bullet was superbly saved by Murphy who then denied Luke O’Farrell on the rebound. Again in the 30th minute Murphy denied O’Farrell and really, Cork should have been ahead at the break, well ahead even, though in fairness Cork keeper Anthony Nash was also in action, denied Richie Hogan from a well-struck penalty. Instead, and with Kilkenny scoring the last four points of the half, the sides went in level at 0-7 apiece.

Where the first-half had been a chess-match, both defences doing superbly in end-to-end action, the second saw the game begin to open up. Cork finally got the goal they had threatened (47m) and fittingly, it was O’Farrell with the finish, capitalising on superb setup work by Paudie O’Sullivan and Stephen Moylan. That score put the visitors 1-10 to 0-11 in front and when O’Farrell again split the defence open a few minutes later for a fine point, the signs were good for Cork.

This was when Kilkenny really dug deep, however, this was when the backs-to-the-wall spirit spoken of by Cody really showed. First, sub Richie Power robbed Cork wing-back Stephen White who delayed his swing by a fatal fraction, and pointed; then the flying Colin Fennelly blocked down Killian Murphy (fine debut) and pounced for another against-the-head score, and Kilkenny were back in control. Over the next 20 minutes was when the game was won and lost, Kilkenny outscoring Cork six points to one, Richie Hogan (again outstanding), Fennelly and Power all to the fore.

Cork did get a second goal, again a score of beauty, Patrick Horgan laying off an inch-perfect pass to the magnificent Conor Lehane, who gave Murphy no chance. It brought them within a point again, into injury-time, next possession vital, but not for the first time in a brilliant career it was Kilkenny midfielder Michael Fennelly winning the dirty ball and scoring.

Worthy winners, Kilkenny, but Cork selector Seanie McGrath was looking on the bright side, unconcerned with the possibility of relegation. “We’re not looking at 2014, we’re looking at 2013 and will look for another encouraging performance again against Clare. Obviously we’d prefer not to be relegated, that goes without saying, but there have been enough encouraging signs from week to week this year so that even if we do end up going down, it’s still been positive. “Our target was to find players and find out about players; we found out loads about our players again today, when they were up against it they really responded.”

The Cork Senior Hurling team to play Kilkenny in Sunday’s key Allianz League final round game at 3pm in Nowlan Park will line out as follows:

1. Anthony Nash

2. Shane O Neill 3. Brian Murphy 4. Conor O Sullivan

5. Lorcan Mc Loughlin 6. Christopher Joyce 7. Stephen White

8. Daniel Kearney 9. Patrick Cronin

10. Conor Lehane 11. Cian Mc Carthy 12. Paudie O Sullivan

13. Stephen Moylan 14. Luke O’Farrell 15. Patrick Horgan

Subs

16. Darren McCarthy Ballymartle

17. Kilian Murphy Erins Own

18. Mark Ellis Millstreet

19. Michael Walsh Kildorrery

20. Colm Spillane Castlelyons

21. Fintan O’Leary Ballinhassig

22. Michael Cussen Sarsfields

23. Adrian Mannix Kilworth

24. Peter O Brien Kildorrery

25. Brian Hartnett Midleton

26. Cathal Naughton Newtownshandrum

The Cork team for this must-win game shows four changes from the team that started the drawn game against Galway. Lorcán McLoughlin moves back to wing back while Stephen White comes in for the injured William Egan, who sustained damage to a finger in the Galway match. Captain Patrick Cronin moves to midfield while Daniel Kearney comes back in to partner him in place of Tom Kenny. Cian McCarthy rejoins the attack at the expense of Seamus Harnedy, who is unavailable due to injury, while Stephen Moylan replaces Adrian Mannix. Stephen McDonnell and Jamie Coughlan also remain on the injury list.

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All afternoon, the various scenarios for the top-tier shake-up chopped and changed, dependent on the results and scorelines from other venues. A team could find itself in a semi-final one minute and in a relegation play-off the next. Not so for Tipperary or Clare, however. At no stage in Semple Stadium were either team ever blown off course for where they eventually arrived. Once Galway kept Waterford at arm’s length in Walsh Park, Clare were only ever destined for the departure lounge of a play-off that could take them back down to Division 1B.

Outplayed, outhought and outfought by Tipperary, from the moment referee James Owens threw the first ball in, the only consolation that manager Davy Fitzgerald could source afterwards was that it might bring a little bit of perspective to where they are as a team. “I was listening to such rubbish during the week about Clare winning All-Irelands. I keep saying, ‘we’re building’ – I’ve been saying this from day one but some of our own people get so carried away,” said Fitzgerald in response to at least one former player’s assessment of their potential. “We have a job to do, it’s a young team and we’re building and we’ll stay building. We’ll take that on the chin today. That’s our first big loss since I’ve been there anyway. We’ll come back fighting for more.”

If such a defeat was a blessing in disguise – to cool the excitement that accompanied two All-Ireland U-21 victories in four years – Fitzgerald wasn’t prepared to say so. It did however bring a touch of “realism” to their current status, he felt. For Tipperary it completes quite a recovery from their first-round mauling in Pairc Ui Rinn. Whatever else this league campaign throws up for them, it has at least allowed manager Eamon O’Shea to steady the ship and make them feel good about themselves again.

They looked like a mature, confident and balanced team throughout, a team that knew what it was doing in every move it made. From corner-back Paddy Stapleton, who swept up just about everything on his patch, to Shane Bourke, arguably their most impressive forward of the campaign, there was method to almost every touch. Brendan Maher looks back to his best, and chipped in with two points to underline his dominance around the middle, while Lar Corbett showed wonderful economy with the limited possession he had, scoring a goal and a point and setting up the same with some delightful touches. Much of the damage he inflicted came in the opening quarter with his perfectly weighted pass off a Darren Gleeson puck-out giving Eoin Kelly all the time in the world to pick his spot and shoot past Patrick Kelly after only eight minutes.

Two pick-ups from Corbett, one for a point himself and another for Michael Cahill’s point, simply oozed class in that early period when Tipperary were backed by a substantial wind and built up a 1-11 to 0-6 interval lead. Eoin Kelly finished the day with 2-8, his second goal late on from a free that Patrick Kelly and Clare full-back David McInerney fluffed on 64 minutes, giving Tipperary a massive 16-point lead at that stage. Nineteen minutes earlier Patrick Kelly had gifted Corbett a goal when his poorly weighted handpass was cut out and instinctively batted home in the same movement for a 2-13 to 0-9 lead.

With such a healthy lead the problematic scoring difference from Pairc Ui Rinn was wiped out, allowing them to top the group, a scenario that “astounded” O’Shea afterwards. Reaching the league semi-finals was “not necessarily” a priority for them but achieving results against hurling’s protagonists, as he sees Kilkenny and Galway, was. “Part of the plan was that we would have a few games that we would like to have won and we won those,” said O’Shea. “The two top teams by far, by a country mile are Galway and Kilkenny. That’s what the statistics are telling us. “Therefore if you’re trying to get up a level you measure yourself against the best teams in the country and those two are the best.”

The performance here, allied to what they did against Galway 13 days earlier, would suggest otherwise however. If Kilkenny and Galway are still the top two then Tipperary are tucked in neatly just behind them. Fitzgerald, for one, knows that Clare have been overreaching to stay in that company and sensed that it was a weekend too far for them. “I think Tipperary have been a bit patchy – poor first game, last week not as good as they could have been,” he said. “For us, we’ve been trying to get up for every single game, trying to play at an unbelievable height and bring ourselves to that height and enthusiasm. Can you do it four weeks in a row? It’s tough. We’ve no excuses today but it’s hard to keep going week after week after week.”

With five current U-21s, and six from last year’s All-Ireland-winning team, they are young enough but this was a challenging day made only slightly more respectable by Tony Kelly’s late goal. “I still have faith in them – there’s no fear of these lads,” said Fitzgerald. “We have a building process here and we’ll stay doing what we have to do. That Clare team will be ok, they’ll keep going.” For Tipp, the recovery has been swift. A 12-point defeat to Cork doesn’t seem so relevant now.

Two of their goals can be marked down as fortunate, but conviction was stamped all over this Tipperary victory in securing their Division 1 semi-final place. In front of 5,459 hardy souls at Semple Stadium, Eamon O’Shea’s side, aided by the wind in the first half, led from start to finish and ended up top of the table thanks to the other two Division 1A results. After Eoin Kelly’s second goal five minutes from the end of normal time, they were 16 points ahead of a Clare team whose heart went out of it midway through the second half. Tony Kelly’s consolation goal for the visitors in injury-time was but a small blot on the Tipperary defence’s copybook as they handled the opposition with relative comfort.

Although Seamus Callanan and John O’Dwyer, stars in their team’s previous two games against Waterford and Galway respectively, failed to score and were substituted, their shortcomings were more than compensated for by the other members of their attack. A frightfully cold March afternoon like this doesn’t usually reveal much but the clever movement of the Tipperary forwards last seen against Waterford in a Munster final two years ago was evident. Eoin Kelly’s 2-8 total was one of his highest personal tallies in years while Shane Bourke picked off two points either side of the half. Lar Corbett’s touch was a joy to watch at times and his poacher instincts were razor sharp to capitalise on Patrick Kelly’s attempted handpass and bat the ball into the net in the 46th minute.

Clare are now teetering between the divisions for a second year running and this was something of a wake-up call for Davy Fitzgerald, who was angered by some grandiose comments made about his team during the week. “I was listening to such much rubbish during the week about Clare winning All-Irelands,” he said. “I keep saying we’re building – I’ve been saying this from day one but some of our own people get so carried away. “We have a job to do, it’s a young team and we’re building and we’ll stay building. We’ll take that on the chin today. That’s our first big loss since I’ve been there anyway. We’ll come back fighting for more.” Fitzgerald also said Clare “can’t ever forget” how Eamon O’Shea encouraged his players to keep driving on for more scores when they were ahead by “11 or 12 points” ahead.

In an often tempestuous affair, sparked mostly by Tipperary eagerness and Clare frustration, the hosts found the net in the ninth minute when Callanan broke down a ball to Corbett who set up Kelly for the opener. Corbett was also the provider in the 13th minute when his expert pick-up led to a Michael Cahill point and his skills were displayed once more when he fired over a point in the 15th minute. By that stage, Tipperary led 1-5 to 0-2 and it wasn’t until the 19th minute when Tony Kelly split the posts that Clare registered their first from play.

Kelly had been marshalled well by Cahill and Brendan Maher was putting in a terrific shift in the middle against Nicky O’Connell. Darren Gleeson was equal to a Colm Galvin shot in the 23rd minute and Paddy Stapleton made an applaudable last gasp interception from Shane O’Donnell 10 minutes later. Tipperary, even with eight first half wides, were deservedly ahead by the same total at the break (1-11 to 0-6) having gone ahead by 10 in the 34th minute. Their double-digit advantage was attained once again when Corbett followed up to find the net after Pat Donnellan denied his earlier shot.

Corbett was moved to the edge of the square at the start of the second half and his marker, Brendan Bugler, followed, denying Clare the 2012 All Star’s presence in their half-back line. Three unanswered Tipperary points between the 51st and 58th saw the Clare challenge well and truly peter out before Kelly’s long-range free was messed up by Kelly and David McInerney and trickled over the goal-line. This was a step-up Clare failed to negotiate but they might just be as thankful as Tipperary that they have at least one more competitive game before the Munster championship. Even if it’s a relegation do-or-die.

Tipperary brush Clare aside to finish top of Division 1A of the National Hurling League

By Malachy Clerkin from the Irish Times newspaper

Tipperary 3-19 Clare 1-14: On a day that was supposed to turn everyone into mathematicians, Tipperary made it all very straightforward. No need for algorithms, no call for square roots. Just simple law of the jungle. Tipp Tarzan, Clare Jane.

They won by 11 in the end but it could have been anything. More might have been vulgar but it wouldn’t have been unearned. Tipp got on top early and never had cause to check over their shoulder – Clare weren’t to know it at the time but when Eoin Kelly put four points between the teams with his first goal after eight minutes, it was as close as the sides would be for the rest of the day. This was a good old-fashioned hammering, a young side marched to the gallows and having the chair kicked away with extreme prejudice. “Tipp were the better team,” sighed Davy Fitzgerald afterwards. “Every chance they got, they punished us. We gave them two goals. You can’t afford to be making mistakes like that – they’ll punish you big time. Even without the mistakes, they were way better than us today, way hungrier, fighting harder than our boys. They totally deserved their win.”

In front of a hardy Semple crowd of 5,459, some of Tipp’s hurling made a mockery of the thoroughly inhospitable weather. Shane Bourke and Noel McGrath slung over points from all angles and both sidelines, cashing the cheques written by the ball-winning of Michael Cahill and Paddy Stapleton at the back and Brendan and Pádraic Maher around the middle. They got a full half of bustle and bludgeon from Bonner Maher as well. But probably the stand-out displays belonged to Eoin Kelly and Lar Corbett. Both coming up on 13 years into their intercounty careers, they’re still holding their own and more. Kelly’s frees were as inevitable as ever yesterday, albeit that his second goal was a long-range effort that got spilled into the net by Clare goalkeeper Patrick Kelly.

As for Corbett, there were times when his touch seemed several degrees better tuned than everyone else on the pitch. After sending Kelly in for his first goal with a perfectly-timed handpass on eight minutes – for which he got nailed with a frontal charge from David McInerney, earning the Clare full-back a yellow card – Corbett spent the rest of the first half bringing order to chaos all around the pitch. One sharp pick and pass set up Michael Cahill for a point, another bought him the room for one of his own.

It all meant that Tipp were 1-5 to 0-2 up after 15 minutes and though they had the help of an insistent breeze, this wasn’t the type of dominance that would disappear with a change of ends. Indeed Clare would have been a lot further behind soon after only for Patrick Kelly pulling off a smart save from the energetic Brendan Maher.

And any chance they had of making a game of it disappeared 10 minutes short of the break when corner-forward Colm Galvin shot weakly at Darren Gleeson. A goal then would have brought them back to within three points but not only did Gleeson waft away the shot, he was able to sprawl forward and clear the rebound before Shane O’Donnell could nip in and finish. Crisis averted, Tipp reeled off the next four points in a row.

It sent them in 1-11 to 0-6 ahead at the break and although a willing John Conlon put up the first score of the second half, Clare just couldn’t get any sort of foothold. Noel McGrath sent over a glorious point from the left sideline on 40 minutes and Corbett stuck a fork in Clare soon after.

A Bonner Maher run ended with a quick transfer to Corbett whose shot was well saved by Kelly. But in the ensuing panic, Corbett managed to get a hurl up to block an attempted handpass by the Clare keeper before batting to the net in the same movement.

It put 10 points between the sides and the rest of the day was mere book-keeping. What it meant ultimately was that Tipp finished top of the league, an outcome nobody saw coming five weeks ago when they got torched by Cork in their first game.

“Astounded!” was Eamon O’Shea’s reaction to finishing top of the table. “The start of the league, you know where we were at the start of the league. Maybe I wasn’t that surprised. I wasn’t surprised that we lost against Cork. I was surprised at the margin. We’re still not at the level where some of the other teams are. We’re just going along nicely now, nothing spectacular. We’re trying to get better and we are getting better.”

No arguments there.

Tipperary 3-19 Clare 1-14

Report from the RTE web site

Eamon O’Shea’s Tipperary cruised into the Division 1A Allianz National Hurling League semi-finals with a massive victory over Clare at a bitterly cold Semple Stadium this afternoon. The Premier County had eleven points to spare against Davy Fitzgerald’s visitors in front of 5459 spectators in Thurles. Six-time All Star Eoin Kelly rolled back the years with a vintage attacking display. Kelly finished with 2-8, including a goal in each half. Lar Corbett scored the other goal for Tipp, who led by 1-11 to 0-6 at half-time. Tony Kelly scored a consolation goal for Clare in stoppage time.

The Premier County will meet the Division 1B winners in the last four – with Clare condemned to a relegation play-off against Cork. Tipp were just too good on a bitterly cold afternoon in Thurles. At half-time, the hosts led by 1-11 to 0-06 against a disappointing Clare outfit.

Tipp did play with the aid of a stiff breeze blowing into the Killinan End but they were allowed to do pretty much as they pleased by a Clare team playing without typical intensity. Kelly struck a brilliant goal in the eighth minute, taking a pass from Lar Corbett before rasping a low shot past Patrick Kelly. Tipp almost scored a second goal in the 19th minute but Brendan Maher’s piledriver was tipped over the bar by Kelly.

At the other end, Clare rarely threatened but Tipp goalkeeper Darren Gleeson did well to keep out Colm Galvin in the 23rd minute, before scooping the ball to safety as Shane O’Donnell threatened to net the rebound. Clare shotstopper Kelly endured a jittery second half, however, and was culpable for both of Tipp’s goals after half-time. As he attempted to clear in the 45th minute, Lar Corbett snuck in and batted the ball to the net. And five minutes from time, Eoin Kelly’s long-range free somehow evaded Kelly and Clare full-back David McInerney to nestle in the Clare net.

This was an encouraging display from a Tipp perspective – but worrying for relegation-haunted Clare. Maher was a constant driving force for Tipp at midfield while Shane Bourke added to his growing reputation with five classy points from play. Noel McGrath foraged to good effect and picked off three points from play while Clare’s leading scorer was Colin Ryan with eight placed balls. Clare, however, scored just 1-6 from play and that was never going to be enough against a fluent Tipp.

The Tipperary senior hurling team to play Clare in the Allianz hurling league on Sunday has 6 changes from the team which started against Waterford last Sunday. In a continuation of the goalkeeper rotation policy, Darren Gleeson takes over from Brendan Cummins and the other changes see Paddy Stapleton, Conor O’Mahony, Brendan Maher, John O’Dwyer and Eoin Kelly come into the team instead of Donagh Maher, Thomas Stapleton, James Woodlock, Brian O’Meara and Adrian Ryan. The team is:

1. Darren Gleeson (Portroe)

2. Paddy Stapleton (Borris-Ileigh)

3. Paul Curran (Mullinahone)

4. Michael Cahill (Thurles Sarsfields)

5. Conor O’Brien (Éire Óg Annacarty)

6. Conor O’Mahony (Newport)

7. Padraic Maher (Thurles Sarsfields)

8. Brendan Maher (Borris–Ileigh)

9. Shane McGrath (Ballinahinch) CAPTAIN

10. Shane Bourke (JK Brackens)

11. Lar Corbett (Thurles Sarsfields)

12. John O’Dwyer (Killenaule)

13. Eoin Kelly (Mullinahone)

14. Seamus Callanan (Drom & Inch)

15. Noel McGrath (Loughmore Castleiney)

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An injury-time point from Paudie O’Brien ensured an unbeaten run into next Saturday’s Allianz HL Division 1B final for Limerick. John Allen’s Limerick appeared to have lost their unbeaten record when Wexford struck two goals in the final 10 minutes but O’Brien’s late equaliser snatched a share of the points for the home side at the Gaelic Grounds. Regardless of the result Limerick had already booked their place in the Division 1B final against Dublin, but the late scores ensure they remain unbeaten. With nothing to play for, Limerick used the game to give a run to fringe players.

“It meant we could try out fellas. It was a learning curve but I am still glad we didn’t lose it at the end,” said Limerick manager John Allen. “They are all working equally hard so it’s good to see lads playing and some put up their hands and said look at me.” Allen again hit out at the current league structures. “The way the league is structured is wrong — we are just marginalising teams,” he said.

Played in front of a small attendance, the teams were level on seven occasions in the opening half. However Limerick brought a 1-9 to 0-10 lead into the interval. There was nothing to separate the teams until Adrian Breen goaled in the 28th minute, when he pulled first time after a James Ryan delivery evaded all in the full-back line, to put his side 1-7 to 0-8 clear. Conor Allis and Kevin Downes had the pick of the scores for Limerick in the opening half, while Wexford were left to rue nine wides and relied on free-takers Eanna Martin and Paul Morris for many scores. On the change of ends the Breen goal continued the divide the teams for long periods. Points from Lee Chin and Rory Jacob kept Wexford in touch but Shane Dowling maintained Limerick’s advantage, 1-17 to 0-15, entering the final quarter.

Then came the late Wexford rally. Firstly, Garrett Sinnott goaled when he collected a clever short from Morris. Then, in the final minute, Eoin Quigley got the final touch in a crowded goalmouth to put Wexford ahead for the first time since the 26th minute. But O’Brien was to have the final say with the equaliser in the second minute of injury-time.

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DESPITE finishing joint top of the table, level on points with Laois and Westmeath, Kerry’s inferior points difference means Tom Howard’s charges will not contest the divisional final. Kerry managed to bag their fourth win from five outings, but only just after Derry staged a remarkable second-half comeback as the winners wilted after a bright start. The Kingdom had to play all but five minutes of the second half with 14 men after wing-back Tommy Barrett received a second yellow card. Sean Maunsell netted a fifth-minute goal for Kerry, who led 1-9 to 0-4 at the interval. A 66th-minute goal from Michael Kirkpatrick and a point from Brendan Rodgers had Derry in front with three minutes to go, but late points from Shane Nolan and Aidan Boyle saw Kerry snatch a win they hardly deserved.

The Kerry Senior Hurling Team to play Derry in Round 5 of the Allianz Hurling League Div 2A in Austin Stack Park Tralee on Sunday next (3pm) shows 2 personnel changes and a number of positional changes from the side that started in Round 4 against Kildare last time out. Brendan Brosnan comes in for Brian Murphy in the half back line and Gary O’Brien replaces Pa Joe Connolly in the half forward line.

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Clare kept their promotion hopes alive with a comfortable win at Cusack Park yesterday – and a win over Limerick in the final round next Sunday should ensure a place in Division 3 for next season. London looked the better side in the early stages and were two points to the good by the fifth minute. A further four minutes had elapsed before Clare opened their account when a good move ended with David Tubridy providing the pass for Rory Donnelly to fist home a goal.

By the 15th minute Clare were three points clear after Tubridy (2) and Donnelly had added points, and a goal was still the difference 10 minutes later after both sides had added two points. By now the Clare attack was putting some good moves together and they added two excellent points from Tubridy before Gary Brennan finished off an excellent move with the home side’s second goal. A point from captain Brennan inside the first minute of the second half made Clare’s determination to win clear and the Banner were always in control from there on.

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Cnoc Mhuire, Granard showed a lot of character and no shortage of spirit in battling back to beat Cork opponents Clonakilty Community College at Sean Treacy Park in Tipperary Town on Saturday last and the Leinster champions can now look forward to a Croke Park appearance in the All-Ireland Vocational Schools Senior ‘A’ Football Championship Final against Holy Trinity College, Cookstown (Tyrone) on Saturday week, April 13th.

Just a solitary point separated the sides when the full-time whistle was eventually blown in this tight contest, much to the sheer delight of the Cnoc Mhuire supporters among the small attendance in the region of 200, and the early goal from Nigel Rabbitte proved to be the decisive score as the north Longford school achieved a magnificent victory.

Winners of the All-Ireland U-16 ‘A’ titles in 2011 and 2012, Cnoc Mhuire were expected to make a major impact at senior level this season and will be quietly confident of crossing the last hurdle despite the obvious tough task against the title holders Holy Trinity College who scored a comprehensive 2-12 to 1-6 win over Davitt College, Castlebar (Mayo) in the other semi-final on Saturday last.

The Cookstown school (coached by former Tyrone great Peter Canavan) are backboned by seven members of the team who crushed the challenge of Gallen Community School, Ferbane 2-18 to 0-7 in last year’s All-Ireland Final and will be extremely hard beaten but Cnoc Mhuire will relish the role of the underdogs in their fierce desire to cause an upset in the eagerly awaited 2013 decider at Croke Park.

Powered by their inspirational captain David McGivney at centrefield, Cnoc Mhuire came out on top against a fancied Clonakilty outfit who were rattled after conceding the goal with just two minutes gone on the clock and trailed by 1-2 to 0-1 approaching the end of the first quarter.

Their dangerous full-forward Ian Falvey blasted the ball over the bar direct from the throw-in when a goal was there for the taking and Cnoc Mhuire had another lucky escape soon after when David McGivney cleared a shot from lively corner-forward Jack O’Mahony off the line.

But the Granard side got a great boost when Nigel Rabbitte finished the ball to the net in a scramble and a couple of cracking points followed from impressive attacker Rian Brady and determined defender Liam Sullivan to really put the pressure on Clonakilty who had the advantage of the stiff breeze in the first half of the All-Ireland semi-final.

Rabbitte and Brady were always a threat in the Cnoc Mhuire forward division throughout the game while Sullivan was much to the fore alongside the also prominent Anthony O’Reilly and Sean McKeogh in a resolute half-back-line who closed down the Clonakilty attack at almost every opportunity.

And when the ball was eventually pumped into the target man Ian Falvey, the Clonakilty No. 14 was met with fierce resistance from the courageous Cnoc Mhuire full-back Diarmuid Fitzsimons who was rock solid in the heart of the defence.

But after squandering a few chances the Munster champions gradually got their act together to fire over five points in a row through O’Mahony, Falvey, Eoin Ryan, Cian Crowley (free) and O’Mahony (free) in a very good spell between the 14th and 26th minutes.

That was putting it up to Cnoc Mhuire but they responded with a well struck point from full-forward Aaron Brady in the 28th minute, which left the sides all square at the break, 1-3 to 0-6. With the aid of the wind in the second half, the Granard side appeared to be in a good position and after wasting a couple of decent chances they regained the lead in the 35th minute with a wonderful point from the excellent David McGivney.

But Clonakilty came storming back and following a fine score from wing back John Whelton in the 37th minute, they missed a goal opportunity when centre-half-back Sean White shot wide. Further points came from Ian Falvey (44 mins) and Jack O’Mahony (from a free in the 51st minute) to leave the Cork outfit leading by 0-9 to 1-4 and looking the likely winners at this stage of the game.

Cnoc Mhuire were guilty of kicking a number of wides in the second half but they kept their composure in refusing to panic and their perseverance was rewarded with excellent points from Rian Brady (52 mins) and Nigel Rabbitte (54 mins) to level matters yet again.

Then a a foul on Aidan McElligott led to Rian Brady converting a free in the 57th minute that proved to be the winning score and while Clonakilty had two chances to snatch a draw, substitute John Paul Maughan hit the upright while Cian Crowley was off target from a free in a tense and exciting finish to this close encounter.

While Cnoc Mhuire went on to squander a couple of good chances in stoppage time, they had done enough to clinch a hard earned victory and great credit must be given to senior team manager James Carroll who has guided the Granard school to the great honour of a place in the All-Ireland Final at Croke Park.

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ST AUGUSTINE’S snatched a dramatic victory over Scoil Mhuire at St Conleth’s Park. The Dungarvan side took the lead for the first time in the game in injury-time when Tadhg Bourke slotted a point. Their Strokestown opponents poured forward in search of an equaliser, but the Friary hit them on the break. Joe Allan fed substitute Michael Sweeney, who blasted to the net to wrap up a famous win for the Waterford school. Scoil Mhuire led by 0-8 to 0-3 at half-time, helped by three points from Diarmuid McGann and a brace from Martin Conway. Both teams missed chances on the resumption, but a 51st-minute goal by Allan brought St Augustine’s to within a point. Conor Prunty levelled with a towering effort before the spectacular conclusion.

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